Patrick Vernon

Sir Patrick Philip Vernon (born 1961) is a British social commentator and political activist of Jamaican heritage, who works in the voluntary sector and public sector. He is a former Labour councillor in the London Borough of Hackney. His career has been involved with developing and managing health and social care services, including mental health, public health, regeneration and employment projects. Also a film maker and amateur cultural historian, he runs his own social enterprise promoting the history of diverse communities, as founder of Every Generation and the "100 Great Black Britons" campaign. He is also an expert on African and Caribbean genealogy in the UK. He was appointed a Clore Fellow in 2007, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for "services to the Reduction of Health Inequalities for Ethnic Minorities", and in 2018 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Wolverhampton. Vernon led a successful campaign for 22 June to be recognised annually as Windrush Day, a national day acknowledging the migrant contribution to UK society, which was officially backed by the British government in 2018. In 2019, he was appointed associate director of Communities at the Centre for Ageing Better, a National Lottery Community funded charity looking to improve the lives of those approaching later life. Vernon was knighted in the 2026 Birthday Honours, for services to racial equality.